Phu Quoc Island District’s authorities have taken the surprising decision to close one of the island’s few interesting evening tourist attractions.

Dinh Cau Night Market

Dinh Cau Night Market is set to close following the opening of Bach Dang Night Market in August last year.

Traders were informed of the decision at a meeting in December. Vice Chairman Pham Van Nghiep announced the local authority’s unilateral decision, telling 60 market traders that they would be no longer able to use the site from June.

Traders expressed their anger at the news as they currently have nowhere to relocate to given that Bach Dang market is full.

"I spent more than VND500m to rent the kiosk and start a business here. I spent almost everything I had but now the authorities said they are going to shut down the market without arranging anything for us. How do they think we are supposed to survive?" a trader said.

According to local authorities, they will shut down the market to rearrange traffic in Dong Duong Town to benefit the work of local government agencies.

Nghiep claimed the local authorities were searching for a location to build a new market, "It's difficult to find a suitable location and it's another problem whether traders would want to move to the new market when it's completed," he said.

Dinh Cau Market opened in 2007 at prime location in Dong Duong Town's centre and on the route to well-known Dinh Cau Rock. It quickly became a popular tourism destination after the opening.